With the reinforcement of the City Council that SD&SG Federal Liberal Candidate Bernadette Clement was a key part of covering up the Chem Tank contract from the public can Justin Trudeau afford a potential scandal?

Clearly City Hall knew about the Chem Tanks nearly a year before they were constructed and by hiding that information from the public left little to no option to fight their installation.

While Ms Clement appears to blame MP Lauzon and the Federal government the sole blame on any cover up is her council and City Hall.

When CFN first broke the cover up we were attacked and other local media do not ask any of the key questions like the one we sent to Transport Canada and were replied to in DECEMBER 2013: (We’ve highlighted the clear dating of the city’s awareness)

Hi Jamie,

Below is the response from Transport Canada to your inquiry regarding the Public Port of Cornwall:

The tenant provided detailed information regarding proposed activities for this commercial operation at this port facility to the City of Cornwall. Specifically, Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc. advised Transport Canada that they first contacted the City of Cornwall in February 2013, and that, among other discussions with the City, Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc. also provided details of the project plan to the City of Cornwall in June 2013.

The Public Port of Cornwall is a commercial port facility. Activity currently taking place at this facility is in line with typical commercial port operations.

A representative from the Office of the Minister of Transport is attending this evening’s public information session taking place in Cornwall.

Thanks

Silvia

Silvia Di Tiero

Transport Canada, Communications Advisor

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We asked the hard questions back then and are still waiting for answers which all Cornwallites also deserve.

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Frankly there should be a police inquiry as to whether a form of fraud has been committed that essentially leaves no option for the residents of our city.

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Click to the 8 minute mark to see Lauzon read from Transport Canada and the exchange between he and Clement.

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In the video Ms Clement says that Lauzon should have been more aware, but surely as important as the waterfront is to Cornwall’s future her council should have been aware? So the question again is were they and did they cover up the chem tank contract, or were they deceived by their own ED team? And if the latter why were no steps taken to remedy that?

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Ms Clement not only was a key member of that council, but is a lawyer. While anyone can get elected, even a lying fraudster like Brock Frost, Ms Clement, as she is a member of the Upper Canada Law Society has a higher bar to adhere to. She also is more highly educated than say…. Andre Rivette.

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When the scandal broke there was much rending of garments and laying blame at the Federal government, but the reality is the City still has not clearly stated why they covered up the info on the Chem tanks until the holes were in the ground and concrete poured?

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It comes down to the three people working in the Economic Development office, Mark Boileau, Bob Peters, and Kevin Lajoie, CAO Norm Levac, and of course former Mayor Kilger and his council.

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Some or all knew details. There’s a reason why ED has to report to council and this activity surely should have been reported if not after the February intel then surely after the June?

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We now clearly and categorically know that there was a cover up. We just haven’t confirmed the players which leads us to the Federal election and Justin Trudeau.

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Can he afford to keep Bernadette Clement? While all signs post to Guy Lauzon winning with about 60% of the vote in this riding if by some miracle Ms Clement won could Mr. Trudeau afford an early term scandal connected to him if he’s fortunate to become our next Prime Minister?

All this huffing and puffing about something that isn’t going to go away….at least until the tank contract expires. As the tanks are on federal land Guy Lauzon had a responsibility to tell the citizens of Cornwall about them. Yes, it matters that the city was told about this in February 2013. The question is who muzzled whom. Did city council muzzle the Economic Development department or did the Economic Development department “forget” to tell city council and city administration about the potential of the tanks being installed? In the end the tanks were installed on federal land and are… Read more »

No Hugger. Guy had no responsibility to tell the public. He did have a responsibility to answer to the public. While he may not have done a good job of that he certainly didn’t “cover it up”. Bernadette and her council clearly did and after presented with clear facts back in December and even to this day are still hiding what happened. Our council clearly knew the direction the public had bought into for our waterfront development. For them to hide the tanks clearly shows that they knew the public would not support it. If they had disclosed before construction… Read more »

I sort of agree with you. But as the tanks were installed on federal land and still sit on federal land I feel Guy Lauzon had some responsibility in this. Yes, the city was told in February 2013. Who muzzled who is the question. Did city council muzzle the Economic Development department or did the Economic Development department “forget” to tell city council and city administration about the potential of the tanks being installed? We agree to disagree. We didn’t agree when this started in 2013 and we don’t agree now on whom is responsible for informing the citizens of… Read more »

I do not dispute that Guy Lauzon could have played a positive role in the Chem Tank fiasco on behalf of the residents of Cornwall. There is however a pecking order. City council should have enlisted Mr. Lauzon’s assistance as soon as they became aware of the intended use of the federal property. This was necessary since council had never been proactive in protecting the communities interest in the redevelopment of the former textile zone. While it can be fairly argued that many other councils had dropped the ball with regards to the waterfront the council that owns bragging rights… Read more »

Hugger I remember you saying when the chem tanks came out that it was federal land and that the federal government didn’t owe anyone an explanation and that the feds do wnat they want. I remember about everyone going back and forth about who was responsible. Who are the ones responsible to the public was none other than BOB and his bunch around the horseshoe which included Bernadette Clément.